by Honor James
Shaking his head slightly, he grinned. “I put out a bit of heat, too, a little more than a human male. You will be warm enough, I’m sure,” he told her softly. Kissing her cheek gently, he moved his lips to her throat and kissed her pulse. “In the morning we’ll talk about me marking you. For now, sweetheart, I want you to rest.”
She wanted that, too. Tomorrow everything would be better. Tomorrow they would have their talk, he could go and do what he had to, and she could go and look for a job. Moving closer to him, she slipped a leg between his, even as her arms wrapped around his, middle and held onto him. “Rest sounds very good.” She wanted to dream of him, feel him holding her here, and in her dreams. “Sleep, Mina,” was the last thing that she heard from him before she surrendered to slumber.
Chapter 16
Letting his eyes close, he relaxed fully and joined her moments later in a pool of heated water. Swimming toward her slowly, he caught her wet body to his and kissed her gently, his arms holding her close.
She smiled up at him as she allowed him to keep them afloat in the heated water. “Hello, Janos.” She pressed her nose to the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply. “I love the way you smell. If I smell like that, too, it’s a good scent.”
She was so free in her dreams, able to love him and make love with him without hesitation. “What is this place?” she asked as she looked around the cavern. Sparkling gems lined the walls and the heat seemed to curl up from the water and into the cave itself.
“It’s one of my childhood getaways in the north of Scotland. We grew up for the most part in England, but once a year in the fall we’d go north to just spend time in nature. This was one of my places that I liked to stay in for a week at a time. I would build a fire in the corner to keep warm, and the water is fed by an underground set of heated springs. It dribbles in to keep it warm but the cooler water of the mountain keeps it from being too hot.”
“I like it a lot, Janos.” She wished that one day they could go there and asked, “Can we maybe one day in the future come here?” One day far in the future when she had saved up enough money. “Will we always be able to share in dreams, Janos, or is this something that is only for the beginnings of everything?”
“I’ll take you anywhere you want to go, honey,” he promised with a smile. “The dreams will continue into the mating but not nearly so desperate in nature. During the mating it’s hot and heavy, like a flash fire. But after the mating it calms a bit and gives us the option of being together even in our rest.”
“I think I would really like that, Janos.” She looked up at him and asked, “What are the downsides to being mated? You have told me that I would be hunted, but you know as well as I do that I already am, aren’t I?” She wasn’t a stupid person, by any stretch of imagination.
Nodding slowly, he sighed softly as he moved toward the ledge and sat with her straddling his lap. Stroking her back gently, he looked into her eyes. “You’ll have to put up with one hell of a possessive mate. Wolves don’t take kindly to other men around their women, but we do try for their sake. You’ll also have to tolerate my four older brothers and all their ‘advice.’” He grunted at that. “You will be hunted as my mate, claimed or not. But as my mate fully, you’ll be very well protected.”
“I’m not much of a social person, so you wouldn’t have to worry about me being with other men or even around other men.” She shrugged. “Is it true that Wolves mate for life, Janos? If we were to mate and something happened to me, would you be able to go on and find happiness with someone else?” Her hands moved up and down his shoulders, leaning in closer to him as she did so.
“It’s truth,” he told her. “Once a Wolf mates that’s it,” he added. “We’re a one woman, or male, beast.” Chuckling, he smiled. “But I’ve never heard a mated couple complain about that detail. I know my parents were perfect together,” he murmured with a half smile as he remembered.
“They were so in love that in a room full of people, a great space separating them, they could look at one another and it was like the room and everyone in it just faded away and they were alone. Their love was a living, breathing thing that held them cradled close in a warm embrace that made everyone that they came into contact with believe.” Shaking the memory away, he looked to her. “Even now, if anything happened to you I’d never find another. You are my mate, and if we never go beyond the dreams, Mina, it’s forever.”
“I want that kind of love,” she admitted, and then when she pulled back to look at him, asked the question that she didn’t know if anyone would ever ask him. “What do you want, Janos? If you had the choice, what would it be?” she asked quietly as her hands moved unconsciously over his shoulder and thumbs stroked his neck. “I’ve never been in a relationship, so I can’t say what kind of person I would be in one, but I know what I want, and that is someone that will love me with the same intensity that you said your parents had.”
“I want you, Mina,” he told her honestly. “I want a chance with you, to show you just what that kind of love is. Between true mates it’s pure, a flame that burns hot and long,” he said, stroking her back slowly. “I can’t say it will be easy. No relationship is, especially in the beginning. But if we both go into it with our eyes open and aware that we may need to work at it a bit, I think we could have what they did if not so much more.”
“I want you, too.” At that moment she realized she actually did. She didn’t want to be alone. She wanted him.
“Will you give us a chance?” She was more than ready to give them a chance. She wanted this, and if it could be even a part of what he had expressed, it would be amazing. “So we both want this, Janos. We both want to find and hold onto that love, so what’s next?”
“I definitely want this and you, Mina, always you,” he said with a smile, reaching up to brush back her hair. “Next is up to you. I can mark you as mine, and when you’re ready, we can mate fully if you’d like. If it’s something you want, I can change you later, but that is something we’ll need to talk about in depth should you be interested.”
“Right, for now I just want to get to know you, be with you.” Mina smiled and nodded. “For now can we just be together? I like being able to make love with you in our dreams.” She didn’t know what it felt like to be intimate with him in reality, yet. “When we wake, I would like to be marked by you. I want to be yours, Janos, because it’s what I was born for.”
Smiling in relief, he nodded. “Yes, you were, honey,” he said softly, pulling her close to kiss her gently. Teasing her lips, he breathed her in and felt his body relax.
She was going to accept him, a little at a time of course, but she was going to be there with him in this life and, if it all went well, into the many to come. Nipping her lip gently, he leaned back and stroked her cheek. “Thank you, Mina,” he murmured.
“Don’t thank me yet,” she said with a smile and leaned into him, her body moving closer to his as they slept in the bed together. “I would really like to make love with you again, Janos.” Looking up at him, she smiled simply. “I very much enjoyed that.” And in their dreams there was no chance of pregnancy.
Sliding his hands down to her bottom, he lifted her up and tugged her closer so that his hard cock bumped against her wet and swollen pussy. “Take whatever you want, darling,” he said softly as he gently tugged her down onto him. Groaning, Janos knew that his real body pressed closer to hers, holding her tighter even as he wrapped his arms around her in their dream.
She felt his arms wrapping around her, not only in the dream but in reality as well. Moving slightly, she took him into her body and sighed happily as she did so. “Janos, I don’t think anything could feel as good as this does.”
As she looked down at him, she smiled and leaned in, brushing her lips over his before pulling back to look at him. “Is it really this easy, to love, to be loved?” She moved up and back down again before stilling. “Is it this easy to fall into love with someone?”
“Not always,” he said, looking u
p into her eyes. “But I think it is for us, Mina, because we were always fated to be together and were lucky enough to find each other.” Stroking her hair back, he pulled her closer and kissed her gently, tasting her slowly and with care.
She kissed him back, her body clenching on his as she moved with him. Pulling back and looking into his eyes, she whispered, “I want to watch you. I want to watch you as you make love with me. I like to see your face, and I need to have this to carry me through tomorrow.”
Staring up at her, he smiled. “I have no problem with you watching, and I’m glad you find my face passable,” he teased softly. “But that last part you’re going to have to explain, Mina, about why you need it to carry you through the day, honey?” he asked softly, his own eyes skating over her features lovingly.
“Job hunting.” The two words of horror. “No more about later, just now please?” Her body clenched him in her dreams, her dream self squeezing the cock buried so deeply inside of her pussy. “Just love me for now, Janos,” she begged softly as she allowed her hands to move slowly over his chest, memorizing each inch of him.
“Not just for now, honey, for all time,” he promised and knew it was the truth. Stroking her cheek, he pulled her back to him and kissed her as he slid off the ledge into the water, his hand on the ledge to keep them up. The other he used to cup her bottom and move her as his hips rose and fell.
She moved with him. As one they moved in the water and need crawled through her with each stroke, each thrust, and finally she kissed him. In her bed her lips brushed over his even as she curled her arms around his neck. In this dream she wrapped legs and arms around him and kissed him with everything she had inside of her. He gave her back something that she had forgotten, hope.
Turning in the water, Janos got his feet in the little notches of the rock and used them to hold them up so they could breathe, wanting his other hand on her. In the bed he slid his hand up under her shirt, his palm pressing gently to the soft flesh of her back, his fingers spread to touch as much as he could. Kissing her in the dream, he held her up higher and pushed into her cunt more roughly, needing to possess her as much as she did him already.
She whimpered both in the dream and out of the dream. She was so close, and as he began to move harder, rougher on her, she sobbed and bit her lip before allowing her head to fall back. In the bed her pussy and thighs were wet as she rubbed against him greedily, each touch of his hand driving her closer and closer to that pinnacle.
She was so close, but her nose twitched slightly. A scent invaded her senses but she didn’t pause, didn’t stop. It felt far too good, and when she screamed, she could practically touch heaven. The heat in the cave had increased. The water seemed to be warmer and finally that scent was there again. “Janos.” Her head hurt and suddenly something clicked. Even in the aftermath of their pleasure, she knew just what it was. “Fire.” Her eyes were wide as she watched him watching her. “I can’t wake up.” It was as if she was drugged and simply lay there limp in his arms, but she knew there was fire in her small apartment.
Feeling languorous after their bout of lovemaking, it took his brain a second to click onto what she was saying and then, even though it was only a dream, he sat her on the ledge and forced himself to wake up. Coughing as he sat up in her bed, he rolled to his feet and moved through to find what was causing the trouble.
It was the lamp he’d left on that had shorted out and lit the couch up. Moving to her kitchen, he filled a pot with water and grabbed a towel and, ten minutes later, he had the fire out. Cursing, he pushed his hands through his hair and stared at the damage. The couch was a goner, but the floor and surroundings were fine.
Chapter 17
She looked at the damage and shook her head. “Mrs. Smith is going to kill me.” The couch wasn’t hers. It was a part of the apartment when she moved in. Sighing, she shook her head and moved toward the door “I had better go and let her know that there was a smallish fire and that I need to open my door to air the apartment out.” Because the smoke was lingering, and since she couldn’t open her windows, there was no other option.
“Why don’t we just open a window, love?” Janos suggested as he looked at the soaked and blackened sofa with a shake of his head. “Get some air circulation in here. The smoke will clear out soon enough. And I’ll pay for the sofa replacement since it’s my fault that it went up in flames.”
“Don’t worry about it, Janos. We can’t open the windows because they have been painted closed more times than you can possibly count. They simply don’t open, so it has to be the door.” She smiled and shrugged. “Don’t worry about the sofa. It was as old as this apartment anyway. I think the only reason it was still here was because it wouldn’t fit through the door,” she said with a smile.
“Should now,” he said with a look at it again. “It’s been slimmed down a bit. And your windows should be able to open. Otherwise you’re trapped. It’s illegal to have windows unable to open in an apartment complex.” He looked back to her. “Get me a knife and I’ll open the windows. Brute strength will help with part of it, but I need to score the paint or I could tear it off a wall,” he told her when she gave him an odd look.
“Please don’t hurt yourself,” she asked quietly but got him a knife anyway. Handing it over to him handle first, she smiled and touched his arm. “Just when the dreams were getting to the good part.” They had gone past good and had gotten into fan-freaking-tastic.
“I won’t,” he told her as he took the blade and went to the windows. Cutting through the layers of paint all around the bottom piece, he smacked the frame a couple times and then, with a little wiggle, heaved on it. It gave way with a snapping sound as the paint gave way. “One down,” he said, brushing paint flecks from his hands.
She had never had fresh air in her apartment, and the feel of the cool air on her skin, the sound of the city alive three stories below had her closing her eyes and simply smiling in pleasure. “Thank you, Janos.”
It was a better gift than jewels or furs. She watched him as he moved to the other three windows, and when they were fully open, she inhaled and sighed, “You have no idea how nice this is for me, thank you.”
Moving back toward her, he set the knife down on the side table and shrugged. “It’s nothing, Mina. You should have been able to open them long before this.” Cupping her cheeks, he leaned in and kissed her softly. “Are you going to go down and let your landlady know or wait until morning to do it?” he asked her, knowing he’d be going with her to ensure the woman didn’t give his mate any grief.
“I’ll go tomorrow, Janos. Right now I just would like to be with you if that’s all right?” She licked her lips and smiled. “You taste like honey and mint. How is that possible?” Even after napping, he still had the sweetest of tastes. It was really surreal.
“All right,” he murmured and shook his head at her. “I think you’re imagining things, honey. Besides the mint toothpaste I have at home which I used this morning, I can’t think of anything else minty. I don’t chew gum and I haven’t had a mint today.” He shrugged. “Not a clue, love.”
She shrugged. “Whatever it is, I like it.” Pausing, she pulled back and frowned, deciding to tease him to see where it would go. “If you would prefer, however, I can stop kissing you so that I don’t have to face the horror of imagining things on your lips, dreaming, or hallucinating, whatever the case may be.
Growling softly, he shook his head. “Woman, are you trying to get me to say or do something that will get me into trouble?” Reaching out, he pulled her closer to him and lowered his head. “But if you don’t want to kiss me again, just say so. I’m sure I can think of a great many things to do with my mouth instead.” He let that hang for a moment before adding, “Like eating, talking with my brothers…” He grinned slightly.
“Like kissing me,” she put in, not even going where she had a feeling things could go if she gave them half a moment. “I love your kisses, Janos. They are very addictive. I hope m
ine are equally as addictive and needed.”
Mina did lean into him, however, and licked his lower lip experimentally. “I want you to kiss me again, Janos. Kiss me again and again.” She wanted him. She had learned so much about him in their dreams and now, now she just really wanted to feel him and know him.
Leaning down, he smiled. “I would gladly kiss you for the rest of time,” he told her. Doing just that, he tipped her back slightly over his arm, forcing her to hang on or feel like she was falling. Sliding his tongue over hers again and again, he growled at her taste as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her closer.
Her hair brushed along the backs of his arms and down toward the floor, and when he growled, her hand moved to his shoulder and the other into his hair. “I think I could really get used to that growl, Janos.” It melted something inside of her, that piece of herself she had been hiding for so long, that most precious part that she hid from the world. “Never stop.” And when he kissed her, she felt the last of her reserves slip away and allowed them to float away into forever.
Bending back slightly, he slid his other arm under her knees and picked her up. Moving toward the bedroom, he nibbled on her lips. “I’m Wolf. I’ll always growl to express my opinion on something. I can’t help it.” Sitting on the edge of the bed, he cradled her close and smiled. “It’s the ones that make your hair stand up you need to watch out for, especially around my big brother. He’s kind of cranky,” he said in a not-quite whisper.
Somehow she wasn’t afraid, not of Janos at least. “I will keep that in mind.” She looked up at him and smiled, hand cupping his cheek as she asked, “Are you going to mark me now?” Her whole body tensed and shivered in sudden inexperienced need. “Because if so I have to admit here is not exactly where I saw something of this importance happening.”
But she was more than willing to take it. She had dreamed of her first time making love being in a large room, massive bed with silk sheets, just as it had been in their shared dreams. “And I really like that you growl. I will never have to wonder just what your feelings are. I just have to learn what each growl means.”